


Deconstructing Delphi

by deslea



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Gen, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Meta, cursed child spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 16:11:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7647784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deslea/pseuds/deslea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>Harry Potter and the Cursed Child spoilers.</b> Meta. What we know and can reasonably surmise about Delphini and the Death Eaters in the years before and after the war. Might be a viable source of fic inspiration, too. </p><p>  <i>Updated 2, 6, and 7 August with a few extra questions and clarifying thoughts.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Deconstructing Delphi

**Author's Note:**

> In addition to the usual abbreviations (OOTP = Order of the Phoenix, DH = Deathly Hallows, etc), I am using CC=Cursed Child.

* * *

Table of Contents

* * *

When was Delphi born?  
Was Delphi's birth planned?  
What does this tell us, if anything, about Voldemort, Bellatrix, and Rodolphus?  
Did Voldemort acknowledge Delphi among his closest circle?  
Did the Death Eaters know Delphi existed at all?  
What happened in the alternate VoldemortWins timeline?  
What is Delphi's proper name?  
Is there any significance to Delphi's blue-and-silver hair?  
Was Delphi really sick? Why didn't she go to Hogwart's?  
Why was there no record of Delphi's birth?  


 

* * *

 

**When was Delphi born?**

Delphi's description of her birth to Harry in the 1981 sequence of CC is worded in a way that seems to suggest that she was born very shortly before the final battle (2 May 1998). However, there is no real reason this has to be the case, and she never says it explicitly. Also, she was glossing over detail quickly in her haste to convince Voldemort/Harry that she was his daughter. 

So while it is possible she was born as late as April 1998, this should not be assumed. Delphi is in her early twenties in CC, and does not believe she can pass for a student. CC is set 19+ years after the Battle of Hogwarts, ie, 2017, and covers at least a two year period [1]. So considering the matter solely on the basis of the CC timeline, Delphi could really have been born any time between February 1996 (approximately nine months after Voldemort rebuilt his physical form) and April 1998.

By referring to the timelines in the books and movies, we can narrow the timeframe further. Bella was not described as pregnant, meaning she was never visibly pregnant to a point-of-view character. So we must look to opportunities for conception, along with gaps in her appearances in the books. A gap of some months would be required.

The first opportunity is immediately after Voldemort attained his new body in May 1995, while Bella was still in Azkaban. It has never been clear why he delayed some months in getting her released from prison (somewhere around Christmas 1995), but it's likely that he needed to revive his treaty with the Dementors first. However, it is not impossible that he was able to visit her, and if their relationship was pre-existing, he could have resumed a relationship with her, with or without the intent of conceiving an heir. Importantly, Bella's escape was reported, but not seen by any point-of-view characters. So Bella could have conceived between May and July 1995 in Azkaban, been pregnant during the escape, and given birth at Malfoy Manor between February and April 1996. She was next seen by a point-of-view character in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in May 1996.

Bellatrix was probably not pregnant (or at least did not know it) during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. For one thing, Voldemort used her to lure Harry into a trap during that battle, and she actively encouraged Harry to _Crucio_ her in the process. Neither of these are likely if they were aware she was pregnant. Also, he probably would have reacted more strongly to Dumbledore pinning Bella with the golden statue, and it's unlikely the pregnancy would have survived it. 

However, there is another opportunity shortly after. She was seen a couple of months later with Snape and Narcissa (Spinner's End sequence), but this would be early enough not to show. She was not seen again after this sequence until the death of Charity Burbage, not long before the Battle of the Seven Potters (July 1997). This means she could have become pregnant between May and September 1996, giving birth between February and June 1997.

There is a fan post about this opportunity for Delphi's birth that has been picked up by the media recently, but it is not a new theory. For instance, years ago, Krysania noted not only Bella's absence from the Battle of Astronomy Tower in May 1997, but also Rodolphus' absence from the Battle of Hogwart's, theorising that his role was to protect Bella and Voldemort's child. (My operating assumption, by contrast, was that Tonks killed him in the Battle of Seven Potters, but that has now been revealed definitively to be false).

Three other compelling points are made by the post quoted in the media. Firstly, at Spinner's End, Bella says if she had _sons_ (not _a son_ or _a child_ ), she would gladly give them in service to her Lord. This could have been an unconscious slip because she already knew she was carrying or had birthed a daughter (or _one_ son, if she was pregnant and did not yet know the sex). In other words, revealed the truth in the words she _didn't_ use. Secondly, Bella's absence from the Battle of Astronomy Tower was not only an opportunity for the pregnancy, but actually an oddity in its own right. By all normal Death Eater battle practices, she really should have been there, _unless_ she had a specific reason not to be. There are other possible explanations, presumably, including that Voldemort may simply have wished her to stay at his side, but they are not readily obvious. Thirdly, Voldemort's insistence that Bella should cleanse her family tree of undesirable elements makes more sense if they have a shared child (which could also apply to the conceived-in-Azkaban theory).

[Marco](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7647784/comments/71666605) makes the point that this, second opportunity probably provides the most potential for the entire matter to remain secret. (I discuss later who knew what, but basically the options are that either Delphi's entire existence was a secret, or her existence was known among the Death Eater cohort but she was thought to be a child of Bella and Rodolphus. _However,_ what Draco knew is material to the question, because he _didn't_ put together Delphi's identity in CC. So either way, he probably didn't know much, if anything, about the baby - not her name, nor her age, nor her distinctive hair). This particular opportunity has more potential for secrecy _from the Malfoys_ than the other two, because Lucius was away in Azkaban and Draco was away for virtually the entire year, staying at school to work on repairing the Vanishing Cabinet.

The final opportunity for Delphi's conception and birth is after the Battle of the Seven Potters (July 1997). Bella could have conceived just before the battle (and not known she was pregnant, or else she probably would not have fought), or just after. She was next seen when the Trio were captured at Malfoy Manor, not long before the final battle. So she could have conceived in June-July 1997 and given birth in March-April 1998. However, Marco also makes the point that Bellatrix's movements were more visible at this time (for instance, to Luna, who was imprisoned for some months in Malfoy Manor, and also Draco, who was in the Manor more during this period) and therefore it is less likely the secret would have held.

_[1] A footnote about the duration of CC. The play commences in 2017, and is long enough at least for Astoria's illness to have deteriorated from her appearance in the DH Epilogue to her death. The scene notes in the Rehearsal Edition of CC make clear that considerable time is meant to be passing. bananasea has[convincingly argued](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7647784/comments/71008666) that the time travel portion of CC occurs in 2020._

 

**Was Delphi's birth planned?**

Delphi may or may not have been a planned child, but either way, it is likely she was actively wanted by both her parents. It is very likely that Bella, desperately in love with Voldemort, would have wanted his child regardless of the circumstances. Equally, it is very likely that Voldemort, if he had not wanted the child, would have found a way to solve the problem (whether by ordering Bella to abort the pregnancy, or by placing her in harm's way in battle). None of the three opportunities mentioned above could realistically have taken place out of Voldemort's view. It is also unlikely that Bella could have successfully misled him that the child was her husband's, even if she had wanted to (ie, in order to avoid pressure to abort). 

Therefore, it seems clear that Delphi was either a happy and wanted accident, or a planned child. This is further supported by the fact that in the alternate timeline where Delphi and Voldemort lived, Delphi was apparently his protégée and right-hand-woman.

This raises the question of _why_ Voldemort wanted a child. It has been a (rather lazy and simplistic, IMO) point of faith in the fandom, also made by JKR herself, that Voldemort was a loveless creature who actively did not want human connection. (JKR seems to have softened this stance a little in CC, noting that Tom Riddle was a lonely child who never emerged from his dark place). In fact, Voldemort clearly wanted home and connection all along. When he was wounded, he went to the home of the father who abandoned him. He craved access to Hogwart's, home for him as a lost boy (acknowledged by Harry in DH). It is really not a stretch that, having found Bella, an equally damaged woman who understood and loved him, he would want to keep her and bind her ever more closely to him. To the possessive and greedy mind, which his clearly was, children would be a natural progression. Furthermore, someone as narcissistic as Voldemort was likely to find the idea of offspring highly appealing.

It is probably worth nothing that Voldemort would _not_ have some of the more common motivations for wanting offspring. He believed himself immortal, so he did not need a successor or to "leave his mark." In some ways, having a child who was also an heir of Slytherin would weaken his claim to uniqueness, so politically it wasn't a great move. The only motivation of this ilk - one that is difficult to envisage for someone like Voldemort - is that he may have wanted to retire once he was happy with the state of the world, and wanted a successor for that purpose. However, I don't find this very plausible, and am more inclined to think he wanted her for one of the earlier reasons mentioned (narcissism reflected in self-perpetuation, or as a mechanism to deepen and extend his hold on Bella).

 

**What does this tell us, if anything, about Voldemort, Bellatrix, and Rodolphus?**

I'll say upfront that I need to be particularly careful of my own bias for this question, because I'm a Bellamort writer, but I want this to be a fanfic resource for a range of purposes, not just my own Bellamort manifesto.

Firstly, let's talk about the physicality of post-rebirthing Voldemort. Clearly, and contrary to the suggestions of many, he is physiologically equipped for reproduction, both in terms of having a penis and having a functioning interior reproductive system. There is probably some discussion that needs to be made about what this means about his lack of a nose, since as I understand it, there are similarities between the two types of tissue. For instance, does it mean that his facial features were a choice rather than physical atrophy/failure to grow? Why? Was it just to seem more frightening? Or, was it because of his link to Nagini and the way he nourished himself with her milk? Also, there are questions arising for Delphi at the biological level. Is she still, really, a descendant of Salazar Slytherin? (Remember, Merope's DNA was not used in the rebirthing ritual, only Tom's). Does she have any of Nagini's DNA? I don't feel at all qualified to comment on these biological and anatomical questions, but I really hope someone will.

Voldemort's sexual and/or emotional drives, particularly in relation to Bellatrix, are an area where we must be careful about what we assume. We don't actually know much at all, even now. CC does not state explicitly that Delphi is the product of an affair between them. What we do know is that Voldemort, at the very least, _either_ wanted a child and recruited Bellatrix to be the mother, _or_ sexually desired Bellatrix and conceived a child in the process of having her. In other words, a Voldemort that is so utterly sexually and emotionally detached that he did not want a sexual partner _or_ offspring is now definitely off the table, but it's the only thing that is off the table.

We can also reasonably extrapolate that even if the conception was a planned one with no other relationship involved, the conception was probably achieved through the sexual act (drawing on the "spoke like a lover" quote in DH) and not through any sort of assisted conception. It would have been open to Voldemort, if he did not have a sexual relationship with Bella and didn't want one, to demand that she inseminate herself with sperm he provided, but it appears he did not. So he probably did not have any compelling pathological beliefs about sex (for instance, that it would give Bella power over him, or weaken him in some way), and he was capable of being physically aroused with her. He also probably did not fear increasing her love for him in the process, at least not enough to deter him, so he must have either tolerated or actively enjoyed the fact that she loved him. (This would not necessarily require him to love her in return; he could have enjoyed her adoration without reciprocating).

Beyond this, though, some things are not knowable from the information we have. We don't actually know whether he loved or cared for Bellatrix, used her for physical gratification, or used her as an incubator. Any of these scenarios is possible. We also don't know if the relationship existed during both the First and Second Wars, or only the Second War. (If the latter, it may be relevant that Bella was probably the only woman who wanted him at that time, whereas during the handsome Tom Riddle era, he may have had other choices. Or, he may not have been interested at all back then; this may have changed due to his years without a body or human interactions). I also don't think we can really know anything new about Bella herself here. She has always been the most transparent Death Eater character, open in her agendas and her devotions. It's likely that she would have accepted whatever physical or emotional tie Voldemort was willing to give her.

Having just gone to great pains to exclude my personal bias from the equation, I'm going to reintroduce it here and say that overall, I think a Bellatrix/Voldemort relationship resulting in a child hangs together more plausibly than the alternative. Voldemort would have to want a child a great deal to entertain the complications involved in recruiting an unrequited Bellatrix as the mother. It isn't impossible, but it would seem to require more compelling reasons than seem readily apparent. Whereas the relationship scenario involves a much lower threshold for Voldemort's commitment to parenthood. In this scenario, he doesn't need to strongly want a child to quite the same degree. He just has to be happy to accept an accidental pregnancy as a _fait accompli,_ or fall in with Bella's desire for one. There are, of course, also the usual circumstantial arguments supporting the existence of a relationship - his use of pet names with her and his reaction to her death. However, it isn't a slam-dunk. The door is absolutely open to other interpretations.

Rodolphus' role bears consideration. Either he tolerated an affair between Bella and Voldemort, or he tolerated a planned pregnancy between them. Either way, we can't draw a lot from this; realistically, his choices were to tolerate it or be killed. However, he obviously continued to be sufficiently devoted to Voldemort to seek to restore him, so it stands to reason that any feelings he may have had about their relationship were not significantly negative. But really, there's nothing new to see here. Bellatrix never took any pains to hide her love for Voldemort, but she and Rodolphus functioned as a close-knit team down the years in spite of it, fighting the Longbottoms together, standing trial together, and fighting together in the Department of Mysteries and the Battle of the Seven Potters. J. K. Rowling has intimated that the Lestrange marriage was an arranged one, so it's quite plausible that they functioned more as confidantes than lovers, and he accepted her feelings for and/or relationship with Voldemort without rancour. Depending on when they married and when the Bellatrix/Voldemort relationship (if any) started, Rodolphus might even have been chosen for her by Voldemort, with the understanding that they would be non-romantic partners all along.

 

**Did Voldemort acknowledge Delphi among his closest circle?**

This is very unlikely, because in this case, Draco would have known about Delphi. While it is conceivable that Draco could have concealed Delphi's parentage initially out of family solidarity and/or in hopes of giving her a chance of a normal life, he would probably have revealed it at some point to deflect attention from Scorpius, once he was rumoured to be Voldemort's lost child. Alternatively, it would have come out during the search for Albus and Scorpius.

Equally, it is unlikely Delphi would have been raised in the manner she was by the Rowles if she were known to be Voldemort's child. Committed Death Eaters would fear and/or worship a child of Voldemort, not treat her as a barely-tolerated source of galleons, and it is likely that an underground Death Eater cult would have grown up around Delphi and the Rowles.

Finally, if Delphi were known in Death Eater circles to be Voldemort's, it is likely that Snape would have told Dumbledore, and, via Pensieve memories, Harry.

Therefore, it is likely that only Bellatrix, Voldemort, and Rodolphus knew that Delphi was Voldemort's child. If anyone knew she existed at all, they would have thought she was the child of Bella and Rodolphus. 

Given that Voldemort apparently did want Delphi and, like Rodolphus, considered her destined to be part of his leadership, he may have intended to acknowledge her after the war was won. In that case, the three of them may have agreed that Rodolphus should temporarily acknowledge Delphi in order to keep her away from the attention of Voldemort's enemies.

 

**Did the Death Eaters know Delphi existed at all?**

My view is that the Death Eaters probably did know Delphi existed. If Bella had gone to special pains to hide her, only to be revealed after Bella died, the Rowles would naturally have suspected Delphi was Voldemort's. They probably presumed her to be "just" Bella and Rod's precisely because she appeared to have been born within the marriage in the usual way.

Alternatively, Delphi's existence could have been a closely-guarded secret, and the Rowles were told that she was a child of someone other than Bella. No doubt any number of lower-profile Death Eaters died in the final battle. Rodolphus could have lied that Delphi belonged to any one of them and paid the Rowles to care for her, on the basis that "we look after our own."

Another variation on this theme is that Rodolphus may have claimed Delphi was his, but the mother was someone other than Bella (ie, a mistress). The secrecy up to then would have been explained by the delicacy of the matter (because a bastard, even if taken in and acknowledged, would not be announced with fanfare). This might also be another explanation for the Rowle's attitude of mere tolerance towards her.

It is likely that Bella and Voldemort were of the "children should be seen and not heard" school of aristocratic parenting, so it would be possible to hide her if they wanted to. However, it is likely that Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco would have known. Even if she lived in a closed wing of the Manor, it is unlikely she could have been hidden in a way that was unknown to Lucius. The Malfoys would have been more suspicious of Delphi's paternity if they were being asked to hide her than if she were simply presented straightforwardly as Bella's and Rod's. So overall, I am inclined to think Delphi was thought to be Bella and Rod's, Rod paid the Rowles to care for her while he was in Azkaban, and he retrieved her and revealed her true parentage on his release.

The one snag in this is that Draco really should have started to put together who Delphini Diggory was in CC, once she was revealed not to be Amos Diggory's niece (certainly if "Bella and Rod's" baby Delphini had blue and silver hair). However, Draco was mostly away at school when Delphi was born, may have only barely registered the birth of a cousin, and may not have taken any trouble to learn the baby's name or see her - especially if she lived in another wing of the Manor. And constellation names may not be all that remarkable in HP world - Delphini might be only a mildly distinctive name to him, rather than the extremely distinctive one it sounds like to us.

There other possibilities. For instance, one scenario - which works best if Delphi were born at the latest opportunity, just before the final battle - is that Rod and Bella agreed to present Delphi as theirs, but Bella may have also heavily implied or insinuated within their circle during the pregnancy that Voldemort was the real father. (This could have reflected that Bella simply was too unstable to lie effectively, or it may have been a deliberate piece of stage-managing so that if Voldemort claimed Delphi after the war was won, it would be believed - "Oh! That makes sense, she always hinted at it" - that kind of thing). This might explain the persistent rumours of a child of Voldemort that were not centered on a particular child. If Delphi was born in April, there would be enough time for the Chinese-whispers to start about her paternity during the pregnancy, but not be fully fleshed-out with her name and sex before Bella and Voldemort died. Rodolphus might have had enough leeway, in the confusion of the aftermath, to persuade the Rowles that his wife had been ill and delusional (not a major stretch) and had tried to suggest that Delphi was the Dark Lord's, and so Delphi should have a very low profile, for her own protection.

 

**What happened in the alternate VoldemortWins timeline?**

The VoldemortWins timeline was probably similar enough to the book timeline to result in the birth of Delphi. (However, see the Bellatrix-as-Augurey theory below, which does not necessarily require Delphi to exist). So, Voldemort was resurrected, he released Bella from Azkaban, and they conceived Delphi. (This lends some credence to the conceived-in-Azkaban theory - these events are most likely to be common to both the book and alternate timeline, whereas later events that might have played in with Delphi's conception might have been changed or cancelled out). It is also likely that Voldemort, having made himself (almost) immortal with the Horcruxes, and still having a horror of loss via death, would have done the same eventually with Bella and/or Delphi.

Delphi is assumed to be the powerful Augurey figure by Albus and Scorpius, but this is never proven. And, in the CC timeline she was introduced to the symbol via the Rowles, which did not happen to VoldemortWins!Delphi. So it is not necessarily the case that Delphi is Augurey. One possibility is that the Augurey is her mother's symbol, which would explain its presence in both timelines. (In the movies, Bella did wear a bird skeleton pendant). Delphi might have subconsciously recalled it from childhood and therefore, in the main CC timeline, latched onto it when subsequently exposed to it by the Rowles. She may or may not be aware of this connection herself, but it's quite likely that Rodolphus told her about it once he became aware that she had a fondness for the symbol. If drawing on this theory in fic, it would be better to assume Delphi was conceived in one of the two earlier conception scenarios, which would give her up to two years with her parents. Whereas if she was born only a month before her parents' deaths, she would not even subconsciously recall her mother's symbol.

If the Augurey symbol's significance originated with Bellatrix, the powerful Augurey in VoldemortWins might not be Delphi at all - she might be Bellatrix. (If so, Delphi might be right-hand to both of them, or she might not have been born in this timeline at all). So while it is likely that all three of them, Voldemort, Bellatrix, and Delphi, lived in this timeline, it is only strictly _necessary_ for either one of the women to have lived. So Bella could still have been killed in the final battle, but in that case Delphi must have been born. _Or,_ Delphi could have never been born, but if so, Bella must have lived to become the Augurey. 

 

**What is Delphi's proper name?**

We only see her as her pseudonym Delphi Diggory in CC (and, a couple of times, Delphini). She refers to the Rowles as her paid guardians and not her adoptive parents, so I doubt she's legally a Rowle. It's likely that her legal name is Delphini Lestrange (if, as I suspect, she was acknowledged by Rodolphus), and she would have been imprisoned under that name. She could conceivably seek to change her name legally to Delphini Voldemort or Delphini Riddle in the aftermath, but I would not be surprised if the Ministry refused to allow it. 

 

**Is there any significance to Delphi's blue-and-silver hair?**

It's unlikely that Delphi's hair comes from Voldemort. If the blue and silver had any significance in the Gaunt family tree, Delphi would have known (from Rodolphus and her own subsequent research) and drawn Voldemort/Harry's attention to it while trying to convince him she was his daughter.

It's therefore most likely that her hair comes from the Black family. My guess is, it's a mix of whatever genes led to Teddy's hair seemingly defaulting to blue, and whatever genes led to Narcissa being blonde (or silver-streaked, if you're going by the movie aesthetic). There may be unusual hair colours associated with having Metamorphmagi in the bloodline, but Delphi is probably not a Metamorphmagus herself (or is too weakly so to control it finely), because she needed the Polyjuice potion.

If Delphi is a Metamorphmagus, even a weak one, she may not have had blue-and-silver hair at birth. Teddy's first colour was red, not blue, and then subsequently changed frequently. If Delphi had already been born at the time of Voldemort's order to Bella to cleanse her family tree, this may have been a contributing factor. People would draw an association between Tonks and Delphi far more readily if they both were Metamorphmagi. As a matter of managing public perception of both Delphi and Voldemort, Tonks, now very publicly undesirable, must be removed. (This theory, if followed, also lends weight to the idea that Voldemort intended to acknowledge Delphi after the war was won).

However, while there are some interesting angles to play with here in fic, I am inclined to think this was a simple stylistic choice, and perhaps a discreet hint to the audience via the similarities to Teddy and Narcissa, rather than anything more thought-out. 

 

**Was Delphi really sick? Why didn't she go to Hogwart's?**

Delphi told Scorpius that she had never been to Hogwart's because she was sick with some sort of unnamed, but serious and long-lasting malady. This seems unlikely. Delphi was a very strong witch. In particular, it would require massive amounts of physical energy to lift a 50+kg human, since humans are not optimised for flight. The limited scientific indications in HP make clear that magic works with existing resources in some way, probably including the individual's physical stores of energy and ability to harness them. Voldemort's return required sacrifice of a limb, probably as an energy source for cell regeneration. The energy requirements may be lower than for a Muggle, but they are certainly not absent. For Delphi not only to be able to fly, but be able to control it, as well as the other spells she used, she must have practiced for some time, and this seems incompatible with her having recovered relatively recently from a long-term illness. It's more likely that she needed a quick explanation for not having attended Hogwart's.

So why didn't she go to Hogwart's? It's unlikely to have been a matter of money. Rodolphus would have prioritised her magical education and paid for it. The Rowles may have pocketed the money, but in that case, Delphi would probably have been visibly angry with them for it, and betrayed envy and resentment when she finally got there. Also, it's unlikely the Rowles would have wanted to antagonise Rodolphus to that degree when he was coming up to his time for release from Azkaban. It's more likely that Hogwart's was not seen as a suitable school for a dark witch, and she went to another school, such as Durmstrang. Hogwart's would also have been undesirable since it might have brought Delphi to the attention of the Ministry of Magic, something Rodolphus, by that point, would probably have preferred to avoid.

Alternatively, following the born-just-before-the-battle-amid-rumours-of-her-paternity theory, Rodolphus may have instructed that Delphi should be hidden, to avoid associating her publicly with the Voldemort's-lost-child rumour. (He did ultimately want her to take her place as Voldemort's daughter, but it would have been dangerous for this to occur while she was a vulnerable child). In that case, she may have been educated at home in some way, possibly using a fictional illness to explain to the Ministry why she wasn't at Hogwart's (if she was registered unremarkably as Bella and Rod's, as I suggest is possible below). This adds some credence to the registered-as-a-Lestrange idea, because there would have been no need for a reason at all if she was truly off the record. 

 

**Why was there no record of Delphi's birth?**

Delphi was born during Voldemort's ascendancy, including his control of the Ministry. One possibility is that after the war, certain records from that period were considered questionable and set aside. This would have included birth records, since the Voldemort Ministry would definitely have manipulated those (for instance, suppressing records of Muggle-borns or Squibs). If so, there would have been administrative arrangements for people to come forward and re-register their children's births, which the Rowles probably would not have done.

Another possibility is that Delphi actually is registered, but escaped Ministry notice since she was registered unremarkably to Bella and Rodolphus. In that case, presumably she would have received a Hogwart's letter, but went elsewhere instead as already discussed.

It is also possible that Delphi was never registered because Voldemort and Bellatrix intended to register her as theirs after the war was won. Voldemort might not have wanted any official paper trail that might call her paternity into question. 

 

**Why did you sit down and write all this out?**

Because thinking it through in my head was hurting my brain. And because I thought I would get fic ideas out of it. And I did.


End file.
